It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I have really enjoyed reading all about all of your favorite and significant holiday decorations.

I love how certain holiday decorations remind us of certain people,
the people who gave them to us or made them.

I wanted to share some of my favorite, most significant decorations with all of you.

My mom made one of these trees for she and my dad the year they got married.
When I was a little girl, I put the "lights" on this tree every year.
When I got married, my mom made this tree for Jason & I.
Now my girls put the lights on every year.

My mother-in-law loved these matryoshka dolls.
Every year for Christmas, she bought she and I each one.
We have dozens.
The girls love to take all of the little dolls out and play with them.

My husband's Grandma Agnes gave us this advent calendar tree the year we were married.
It is one of our favorite Christmas decorations.
Every morning, the girls put the decoration from the corresponding box on the tree.

Jason began our Dickens Village collection the year P was born.

The first year, we got this house with a family of four dancing around the Christmas tree in the window.

The year A started school, we got this school.

When the girls took skating lessons, we got this skating rink.
The little people really skate around.
It's the girls' favorite.

My uncle gave us the little piano playing snowman.
He plays various tunes.
Very festive.

This is a little silly, maybe, but my uncle's gift of the piano playing snowman reminds me of listening to Billy Joel with my uncle.
I wasn't allowed to listen to rock music when I was young.
But my uncle loved Billy Joel, and I felt so cool sitting in my uncle's car, listening to the piano man!

The photos on the left are from Christmas 2008.
Jason & I in the top one.
The girls in the bottom one.

This is from last Christmas, Christmas 2009.

I love this.
I bought it because the little dog reminds us of our Sydney Bean,
our dog that we had to put to sleep a few years ago.
Jason and I had her since we were first married and she was our first baby.

I LOVE using these plates around Christmas time.
The Spode Christmas tree just is the epitome of my Norman Rockwell Christmas fantasy.